Methyl halides are reactive one-carbon compounds from which a wide variety of commercially important organic products can be produced. Industrial production of methyl halides has been carried out using chemical methods that often consume high amounts of energy, and involve conditions of high temperature and pressure. For example, a common method for industrial production of methyl halides involves reaction of methanol with gaseous hydrogen chloride in the presence of an aluminum oxide catalyst at elevated temperature and under a pressure of at least 1 bar. See, e.g., McKetta, J., CHEMICAL PROCESSING HANDBOOK, 1993.
Many plants and fungi produce methyl halides and release them into the environment. These organisms contain methyl halide transferases that combine a chlorine, bromine or iodine ion with a methyl group of the metabolite S-adenosylmethionine (“AdoMet” or “SAM”) to form the methyl halide and S-adenosyl homocysteine.